Corn-husking machine.



N0. 683,174. Patn'tedsepfjzmlsol.

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(Applicvation'ledj'eb. 15. 1901.) (No Modeli) y 4 Sheets-Shept L mums Punts co, mormrmo. wAsmnmorn o. c:4

(No Model.)

Patented sept. 24, |901.

'.l. E. 600m-IUE.

CORN HUSKIIIG MACHINE.

(Application led Feb. 15, 1901.)

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UNITED STATESV PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. GOODHUE, OF ST. CHARLES, ILLINOIS.

CORN-HUSKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 683,174, dated September 24, i901.

Application filed February 15, 1901. Serial No. 47,443. (No model.)

T0 all whom 'it 11m/y concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. GooDHUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Charles, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oorn-llusking Machines, ot' which the following is a specification.

In machines of the general type to which this invention relates the cornstalks are fed through snapping-rollers, which snap off the ears, causing them to fall upon and be engaged by husking-rollers, which remove the husks and silk, while the stalks pass beyond the snapping-rollers to feed-cutters.

My object is more especially to provide certain improvements in the construction of the husking mechanism whereby the 'husks and silk may be quickly and effectually removed from' the ears without injury to the kernels.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section taken longitudinally through my improved machine on irregular line l l in Fig. 3; Fig. 2, a top plan view of the machine; Fig. 3, a plan section taken on irregular line 3 3 in Fig. l; Fig. 4, a vertical section taken on irregular line 4- 4l in Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5, a broke-n plan section on line 5 in Fig. l; Fig. 6, a developed view of one of the husking-rollers forming a feature of my improvements; Fig.'7, an enlarged broken section through the huskingrollers; Fig.,8, a broken section also taken ou line 4 in Fig. l and showing an upper stationary and adjustable plate carrying spring husk-loosening fingers with means for adjusting the plate; Fig. 9, a detail view of an end of the stationary plate or board shown in Fig. S, illustrating its hinge connection; Figs. 10 and ll, enlarged broken sectional detail views showing spring husk-loosening lingers and the way they are mounted in the upper stationary plate or board and a lower rotating plate or disk.

A is the frame of the machine, provided on its upper side with a platform B, along which the cornstalks are moved to be engaged by snapping-rollers C. Mounted in the upper end ot' the frame beyond the snapping-rollers is the rotary feed-cutter D. Between the platform B and the snapping-rollers is an opening d, through which the ears drop when removed from the stalks by the snappingrollers. f

E is a support, preferably a disk-shaped board or plate, mounted upon the upper end of a shaft b, which may be journaled in a suitable yoke-frame c, held rigidly in the frame A. On the disk E are preferably concentric series of spring-:fingers CZ, which may be fastened to the disk, as shown most plainly in Fig. ll. The disk is Vprovided with narrow openings e, from which extend narrow Vrecesses f in the upper side of the disk. The fingers d are formed of springwire, each with a coil d between ends and arms cl2 d3. The coil portion d' of eachiinger rests in an opening e, and the arm da rests against the flanges e c" on the under side of the disk. At opposite ends of the anges e e2 are perforated ears e3, through which a Cotter-pin e4 is passed to clamp the arm cl3 firmly in place against the flanges e' e2, as shown in Fig. 1l. The outer end portion of the arm d2 is bent to produce the inclined husk-engaging end d4. The disk E inclines toward the front end of the machine, as shown most plainly in Fig. l.

Above and parallel with the diskE is a relatively stationary support board or plate F, provided with downward-projecting springfingers g. Each iinger g is formed with a coil g and arms g2 g3. rlhe coil g' rests in a narrow slot h in the board F, and the arm g3 is fastened in the same way as the arms d? of the fingers (l. The projecting end portion of the arm g2 of each finger is bent to produce theinclined husk-engaging end g4. Extending from each slot h is a narrowrecess h in the under side of the board. The board Fis of the shape indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, being wide at one end and narrower at the other. j At opposite ends of the board Fare stationary guide-boards A A2, which may be integral parts of the main frame A. The board F is inclined to extend parallel or nearly so with the disk E and is fastened at one end to the lower leaf of a hinge i. upper leaf of the hinge is provided with bolt- The holes i', at which it is adjustably fastened, by

means of bolts 7c, in vertically-elongated slots in the guide-board A. Thus the hinge may IOO E, andthe board F may be swung upward upon the hinge. Toward its opposite end portion the board F is fastened to a vertical hanging bar or support G. The support Gis formed of two relatively adjustable members Z m, the member Z being provided with an elongated slot Z'. A bolt n, fastenedV in a boltopening in the member m, extends through the elongated slot Z and is provided with a thumb-nut, whereby the support Gr may be lengthened and shortened. The member m has a hinge connection m with the under side of a hinged section B of the platform B, and the lower end of the member Z is pivotally connected at Z2 with a part Z3, fastened against the upper side of the board F. The support G holds that end of the board F firmly in its lowered position parallel with the disk E. The platform-section B is hinged at the same side as the board F. When raised on its hinge, it also raises the board F. The object of this construction is to permit ready access to the spring-fingers to clean or repair them when necessary or to change the number of fingers to suit the varying conditions of the ears of corn.

Extending in a downward-inclined direction from a point below the diskE to the forward end of the machine are husking-rollers H I, which are parallel with and normally in contact with each other. The roller H may be comparatively smooth or its surface may be roughened with corrugations or in any desired Way. The roller I, however, is provided with longitudinally-extending grooves or re cesses p, arranged parallel in break-joint relat-ion to each other, as illustrated, for example, in the diagram or developed view Fig. 6. The parts of the roller between the recessesp form longitudinally-extending teeth 19', which may be straight, as shown, or slightly7 spiral, with somewhat extended bearing-surfaces in the arc of a circle of which the axis of rotation of the roller is the center. The forward sides of these teeth are inclined to form camsurfaces p2, while the opposite sides of the teeth may be abrupt, all as shown most plainly in Fig. 7. The break -joint arrangement leaves occasional relatively wide tooth por tions or gripping-surfaces p3, which are arbitrarily arranged as to position and length, but should suitably answer the purpose of enlarging the grippingsurfaces of the roller I'at intervals along its length. The roller I is mounted toward opposite ends in stationary journal-boxes g, while the roller H is journaled at opposite ends in sliding journalboxes q. The sliding journalboxes are pressed upon by springs q2, which tend to hold the rollers in contact with each other, but permit them to separate against the resistance of the springs. Beneath the rollers H and I is the usual conveyer K.

The shaft D' of the feed-cutter is the driveshaft of the machine. This shaft carries a pinion D2 in mesh with a gear-wheel C' on the shaft of one of the snapping-rollers. The

snapping-rollers may be geared together in any common manner. The shaft of the gear- Wheel C' carries a sprocket-wheel C2, which may be geared by a link-belt (not shown) to a sprocket-wheel K' on the drive-shaft of the conveyer K. The drive-shaft D carries a pulley D8, which through a belt (not shown) may drive the pulley L upon a shaft L', journaled in the frame A. On the shaft L is a pinion L2, meshing with a pinion M on a shaft M'. The shaft M at its inner end carries a beveled gear M2, which meshes with a bev eled gear b on the shaft b, carrying the disk E. The shaft L also carries a beveled gear L3, which meshes with a beveled gear l on the husking-roller I. The husking-roller I also carries a pinion I2, meshing with a pinion H on the husking-roller H. While the means shown for driving the various parts are preferred, of course they may be varied as desired.

.Iournaled in the side A2 is a rod or Wiper t, having a crank-handle t and a crank-stem t2, which extends over the disk E. 'W'hen desired, the crank may be turned slightly to lower the stem t2 intothe path of the springfingers d to depress and wipe across them and cause them when released to spring outward and loosen any parts of husks or silk that may tend to clog them and interfere with their operation. I

The operation is as follows: NVhen the ears are snapped from the stalks by the rollers C, they drop upon the rotating disk E, the direction of rotation being that in which the projecting ends of the spring-fingers are inclined. The direction of inclination of the spring-fingers g on the board F is approximately opposite to that of the lingers d. The ears are guided to fallupon the disk E by the hopper-shaped sides Nof a compartment of which the disk forms the base. The iingers d carry the ears beneath the board F, where the spring-fingers g engage and tend to retard the ears. The engagement of the spring-fingers cl and g with the ears of corn causes the ears to be rotated on their axes and their husks and silk to be loosened. The yielding nature of the lingers prevents their pressing rigidly against opposite sides of the ears and also prevents the fingers from digging deeply into the sides of the ears in a manner to injure or loosen the kernels. Under sufficient resistance the spring-fingers may turn backward to extend entirely in the recesses f or h', as indicated, for example, by dotted lines in Figs. l0 and 1l. Owing to the rotation of the disk E and the inclination thereof the ears as the husks and silk are loosened are moved to drop to the huskingrollers H I. On opposite sides of the huskin grollers are inclined sides s s, forming a 1ongitudinal hopper-shaped trough, ot' which the rollers are the base. As the ears rest upon the rollers, projecting ends or edges of the husks which have been loosened by the springlingers will enter the bite of the rollers in the IOO IIO

' acted upon by the cam-surfaces p2, which the lower end of the rollers.

arbitrary, I have found it of great advantage to stagger them in some such manner as shown. By this means the husks and silk will fill the recesses and be `gripped and drawn down, as described, along the greater length of the roller; but the operation of tearing oft the husks and silk is facilitated by their coming in occasional contact with plain peripheral surfaces, whereby the drawing engagement is extended. The fact that the inclined parts p2 of the roller I operate as cams to slightly raise the ears as they are passed by the grooves also facilitates the removal of the husks an-d silk. The withdrawing of the husks and silk from the ears and the inclination of the rollers H I causes the ears to be moved along the rollers until they are entirely stripped and discharged at When desired, the fingers d may he cleaned by turning the wiper t into their paths, as described.

My invention, broadly stated, lies first in mechanism for loosening the husks and silk before the ears are operated upon by the husking-rollers, and the mechanism for performing this operation may be variously modifled without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined by the claims. My invention consists, also, in the general construction of the husking-roller I, with its longitudinal teeth, grooves, and cam-surfaces, though the form may obviously be variously modified Without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a corn-husking machine, the combination with the husk-removing mechanism of a husk-loosening device provided in advance of the husk-removing mechanism and comprising approximately parallel supports, one of which is movable to advance the ears of corn between them, and coperating husk engaging and loosening fingers projecting from both the supports int-o the path of the earsof corn and adapted to yield relatively under the feeding pressure of the ears of corn to avoid injury to the kernels.

2. In a corn-husking machine, the combination with the husk-removing mechanism of a husk-loosening device provided in advance of the husk-removing mechanism and comprisinga stationary support and a rotary support forming a passage between them for the ears of corn, means for turning the rotary support to feed the ears of corn through said passage, and coperating husk engaging and loosening fingers projecting from both the supports into the path of the ears of corn and adapted to yield relatively under the feeding pressure of the ears of corn to avoid injury to the kernels. y

3. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with the husk-removing mechanism, of a husk-loosening device, supported in advance of the husk-removing mechanism, and comvided with downward-projecting fingers, and a lower rotary support, approximately parallel with the stationary support and having upwardly-projecting fingers, and means for turning the rotary support, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with the corn-husking mechanism, of a husk-loosening device comprising a lower ro tary support, having upwardly projecting fingers, means for rotating said support, and an upper support,approximately parallel with the lower support, provided with down wardly-projecting iingers and vertically adjustable with relation to said lower support, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with the husk-removing mechanism, of a husk-loosening device, comprising a lower rotary support having upwardly-projecting lingers, means for rotating said support, and anupper stationary support, approximately parallel with the lower support, provided with downwardly-projecting fingers and hinged at one side, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a cornhusking machine, the combination, with the husk-removing mechanism, of a husloloosening device comprising upper and lower approximately parallel supports, one of which is movable, finger sockets and recesses in the adjacent faces of saidsupports, and' spring-fingers in said sockets mounted to yield into said recesses, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with the husk-removing mechanism, of a husk-loosenin g device comprising upper and lower approximately parallel supports, one of which has means for moving it, and springfingers on said supports comprising lengths of wire bent between ends to produce arms and coils, one arm being fastened to the support and the other arm extending yieldingly in the direction of the other support, substantially as set forth.

8. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with a husk-removing roller H, of a companion husk-removing roller I provided with longitudinally-extending recesses p, teeth 1o separating the recesses, and cam-surfaces p2 at the forward sides of the teeth, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a corn-husking machine, the combination, with a husk-removing roller H, of a companion husk-removing roller I provided with longitudinally-extending recesses p, teeth p separating the recesses, cam-surfaces p2 at v prising an upper stationary support, pro- IOO IIO

IZO

the forward sides of theteeth, and break-joint cleaning device movable into the path of the l surfaces psinterposed in the reeesses,substan fingers ou the rotary support, substantially xo tially as and for the purpose set forth. as and for the purpose set forth.

lO. In a corn-huskn machine, the oombi- A 1 nation, with the husk-removing mechanism, JAMES E GOODHUB" of a husk-loosening device comprising upper In presence of and lower supports, one of which is' rotary, ALBERT D. BACCI,

springngers upon the supports and a nger- D. WV. LEE. 

